STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. IO3 



to the tips. At the time of our coldest weather last winter there was 

 no frost in the ground and two feet of snow over it. 



They were not all killed, however, for we had a good crop of fruit; 

 some berries nearly as large as Kittatinny and Lawton. The Snyder will 

 not bear neglect; it requires good cultivation, good feeding, judicious 

 pruning and thinning; it is such an immense bearer, that unless cut back 

 severely it sets more fruit than it can mature, unless under very favorable 

 circumstances. 



The Kittatinny and Lawton winter-kill and rust so badly their 

 cultivation has been given up in this neighborhood. 



The blackberries require the same cultivation, pruning, etc., as 

 raspberries ; they should be planted from two to three feet in the row 

 and not less than eight feet between the rows, and leaving a ten or twelve 

 foot space between every six rows to get through with a wagon to haul 

 out the old wood. 



William Jackson, of Godfrey, from the committee, reported as 

 follows — read by E. C. Hatheway, Mr. Jackson not being present : 



Mr. President and Gentletnen : 



In submitting, for your consideration, the following report, it will 

 be necessary to take carefully into consideration soil, location and 

 general treatment. Strict attention to my own business has prevented 

 extended inquiries into the success or failure of others; I will endeavor 

 to give as clear a statement of my own experience as possible. 



My soil is what would be called a stiff, clay loam, producing origin- 

 ally a good growth of white and post oak and hickory. It will produce 

 a crop of blackberries for six years in succession without much deterio- 

 ration in quality; after that time, notwithstanding all possible care may 

 have been taken, such as pruning, mulching, etc., the canes begin to get 

 weak and are naturally more prone to disease and rust, which will 

 ultimately destroy them. I think this weakening or deterioration, 

 especially in the blackberry, may be attributed to a lack of plant-food in 

 the soil, necessary to the production of healthy plants and fruit. 



Another common cause of failure, and one from which I have suffered 

 myself, is that of planting upon ground that, generally speaking, is fit for 

 nothing else, hilly, poor ground being considered good enough for 

 blackberries. This is a great mistake. 



The rust is always more or less of an evil, but it may be controlled 

 by slipping off the shoots, at least twice a week, during the growing 

 season, which will certainly require no more labor than any other crop 

 of small-fruit. I have some Kittatinny plants, set November 15, 1869, 

 and many of them are in good bearing condition yet. Some of them, 

 however, where the soil has been apparently exhausted, or where they have 

 been badly treated, have yielded to the rust and are almost gone. 



I am aware that it has been said that the blackberry may be grown 

 on the same ground for an indefinite length of time. Such was my 

 opinion, but I have been compelled to change my ideas on that matter, 



